1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to down cotton retrieving systems, and more particularly, to slotted grasping belts for down cotton retrieving systems.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various machines for gathering "down cotton" are known. Down cotton is cotton which has been knocked down from cotton stalks onto the ground, mainly by adverse weather conditions and mechanical picking machines. The state of the art for such machines, known as cotton gleaners, is indicated by U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,670,584; 3,399,767; 3,164,027; 3,425,097; 3,217,878 and 3,399,518. The cotton gleaners described in the above patents all include transversely slotted retrieving belts. Various techniques are disclosed in the above patents for removing debris picked up along with down cotton by the cotton gleaners. U.S. Pat. No. 3,342,310 discloses a modified retrieving belt having toothed clips extending over the transverse slots to improve the efficiency and selectivity of grasping down cotton; however, this modified retrieving belt has been unsuccessful because it does not adequately release down cotton and other debris picked up from the ground.
Down cotton is frequently embedded in the ground as a result of being run over by cotton picking machines; such down cotton may become further embedded in the ground because of moistness of the ground and subsequent drying and hardening thereof. The down cotton is also frequently partially covered by sticks and stems and other debris which hold the prior art belts up and away from the down cotton and prevent them from grasping the tufts of cotton. Further, the cotton tufts, stems and other material on the ground are of uneven thicknesses, so that when a relatively thick particle is grapsed in any area of the transverse slot (in the prior art belts), such relatively thick particle tends to hold the slot open all the way across the width of the belt, thereby preventing the transverse slot from grasping the thin fibers of other tufts of cotton. Although the down cotton retrieving equipment of the prior art is effective, there is nevertheless an unmet need to further improve the efficiency of cotton gleaners by improving the selectivity of their retrieving belts and increasing their ability to simultaneously grasp particles of varying thicknesses and to more selectively grasp down cotton which is embedded in the ground or partially covered by sticks, stones, and other debris.